CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Bluetongue (BT) is an insect-transmitted viral disease of all ruminants species. The disease is caused by the Bluetongue Virus (BTV) which belongs to the genus Orbivirus within the Reoviridae family. BTV is transmitted between its hosts by the bits of certain species of blood feeding midges of the genus Cullicoides. BTV occurrence is limited between latitudes 40°S and 53°N and it is associated to certain climate factors which determinate the vector distribution. Therefore the virus spread is influenced by the climate change. The OIE considered the disease of utmost importance and represents a major barrier for international trade of animals and their products (Maan et al, 2007). Twenty five serotypes have been described based on neutralization test. BTV has a genome composed by ten linear segments of double stranded RNA (dsRNA) which codify for at least ten different viral proteins. Seven of these proteins are structural (VP1 to VP7) and form a double layered particle that surrounds the non structural proteins (NS1, NS2, NS3 and NS3A) and the genomic material (Balasuriya 2008). Genetic variation of these segments (seg) are used to type the virus; seg 2 is used to define serotype and nucleotype, seg 6 defines seg6-nucleotype as well (Maan, 2007), seg 10 is utilizaed to approximate topotype (Balasuriya 2008) and seg 7 is thought to correlate with vector species in certain geographic regions (Wilson 2000). In Argentina, serological evidence of BTV has been found, however BTV has only been isolated from three bovines during 1999 - 2001 period in the northeast of the country. The isolates were serologically characterized as serotype 4 (Lager, 2004). The aim of this work is to begin the first phylogenetic analysis of the argentinean isolates in order to study the history of BTV incursions in Argentina.

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